Stuffed peppers are such a great dish because they are super versatile. Similar to my other recipes for zucchini boats, there is a lot of variety in how you can stuff them! For this version, I decided to put a spin on the traditional hamburger and rice stuffed peppers and use flavors similar to what you would find in a caprese salad. Tomato, basil, mozzarella, balsamic glaze with a saucy chicken and rice filling take your traditional stuffed peppers and elevate them to take on a caprese chicken flair.
Chicken and Rice
To start off, you’re going to want to either shred and season leftovers from a rotisserie chicken, or, in my case, season, cook them, and then shred. To cook them quickly, I like to pressure cook my chicken in my ninja foodi using the wire rack on high pressure for about 15 minutes. This is SERIOUSLY my favorite kitchen appliance. I use it literally almost every day. We have the 8 qt deluxe and it is so worth it. Find yours here.
After cooking the chicken, I shred it. Recently I was told about a hack where you can put your chicken breasts in the bowl of your Kitchen Aid stand mixer and let your paddle attachment do the work. Life. Changing. This is the model of the Kitchen Aid that we have (except ours is blue) and it’s amazing.
While the chicken is cooking, I also cook my rice. I used 1/2 cup of jasmine rice with 3/4 cup of chicken stock to make mine. I find the chicken broth adds more flavor than just using water.
The Caprese Filling and Topping
While the rice and chicken cook, you’re going to make the sauce for the mixture going in the peppers. The sauce consists of onion, garlic, and lots of tomato. The secret to giving the filling the unique caprese flavor is that we also add a bit of balsamic vinegar, basil, and after we incorporate the chicken, rice, and other seasonings, we also mix in some mozzarella.
After everything is mixed together, you’ll scoop the filling into each of the peppers, making sure to really pack the filling in. Once all of the peppers are stuffed, top them with more mozzarella and some halved cherry tomatoes. Once they finish baking, top them with fresh basil and drizzle with balsamic glaze. This glaze gets really good reviews from Amazon.
Caprese Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken Approximately 2 lg chicken breasts, okay to use leftover rotisserie chicken too.
- 1 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning, divided
- 1 1/2 tbsp garlic powder, divided
- 1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
- 3/4 tsp pepper, divided
- 1/2 cup long grain rice We used jasmine rice.
- 3/4 cup chicken stock Okay to substitute water. Make sure you check the amount of liquid needed for the specific rice you choose.
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes Crushed fire roasted tomatoes will give more flavor
- 1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- .66 oz fresh basil, roughly chopped, divided
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 cups spinach, chopped
- 8 oz shredded mozzarella, divided
- 6 bell peppers, tops and seeds removed
- 9 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tbsp balsamic glaze
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13in casserole dish with nonstick spray.
Chicken and Rice
- Season your chicken with 1/2 tbsp of Italian seasoning, 1/2 tbsp of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper.
- Cook chicken fully using the preparation of your choice. Using leftover rotisserie chicken is also fine. I chose to pressure cook my chicken breasts for 15 minutes using the high setting of my ninja foodi using the wire rack and 1 cup of water added to the bottom. You could also bake your chicken breasts, or pan fry them until they reach an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Once fully cooked, shred chicken and set aside.
- While chicken is cooking, make your rice. Add rice and broth to a small saucepan over high heat. When the rice begins boiling, cover and reduce heat to low. Follow the instructions on the rice of your choice regarding cook time.
Sauce Mixture
- While the rice and chicken cook, in a large, deep skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat, melt butter.
- When butter is melted, add onion and garlic. Saute until softened, 5-7 minutes. Once softened, add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir well and simmer 3-4 minutes.
- Add remaining seasonings, 3/4 of the chopped basil, and the balsamic vinegar. Stir well. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add rice, shredded chicken, spinach and half of the mozzarella. Stir well and remove from heat.
The Stuffed Peppers
- Stand each pepper up inside of the casserole dish. Fill each pepper equally with the chicken and rice mixture. Top with the remaining cheese and with 3 cherry tomato halves each. Bake covered with tin foil for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the tin foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes. If the tops are not browned enough, feel free to broil for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is lightly toasted. Sprinkle with remaining basil and drizzle the top with balsamic glaze.
- Serve and enjoy
And there it is! This recipe was super tasty and my family really enjoyed it. You can even make adjustments to make this meal easy for little kiddos to manage by giving them some of the roasted pepper cut into strips or diced with some of the filling. For a low carb version, you could try this using cauliflower rice!
If you like these caprese peppers and want to see more of my yummy dishes, feel free to visit my recipes page here, view similar ideas down below, or subscribe to the blog for new recipes posted every week. I would also love if you could tell me your thoughts in the comments and leave a rating to tell me what you think! Thanks and enjoy!
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Great recipe for parties
Thanks so much! I’m glad you liked them!